storm ponds.

storm ponds are a very overlooked fishery. many people will form an opinion on them early believing the only fish present are bullhead and stunted bluegill, because well thats usually the case..but if you know what to look for these small ponds can be an absolute goldmine. the first thing i look for when i locate a pond is the obvious thing. fish. hang around the spot for a while look for anything jumping surfacing or if you see carp up shallow feeding. if a pond has a good number of fish present than it should be easy to quickly locate fish. second thing i look for when i discover a new pond is i see if there are any other bodies of water connected or nearby. even if there are no creeks flowing between a drain can provide fish with the opertunity to transfer from one body of water to another. so if you discover a lake with carp populations that has smaller lakes very close by those smaller lakes more than likely will also hold carp.another factor to consider is depth and current. if you have a stream dumping in it is always a good idea to start at the mouth of the stream as it typically will hold good quantity of fish. also a stream can add diversity to the pond. depth comes in handy on those tough days when your having trouble with the hoards of small panfish and bullhead taking your baits. if you can find the right depth of water carp should be easy to sight fish for yet not as spooky as the fish up shallower.

these ponds will also typically hold some species of micros. now these are a neat addition to any species hunters list because not many anglers can say theyve caught one on a rod and reel typically the micros found in these ponds are also for sale at your local baitshop. my personal favorite pond is home to quite a few golden shiners. oh what a pretty fish they are.

and for you sport fish guys some of those small local ponds you though were uninhabited may hold some trophy fish.

other usual inhabitants of the small storm ponds include panfish and bullheads. typically black bullheads and green sunfish seem to outnumber everything else in the pond and are usually a nuisance when carp fishing but a friend of mine has caught them up to 18 inches!! now that is a bullhead i am interested in. both bullheads and sunfish are quite a bit of fun on fly tackle and we've nicknamed them "sewer trout" as a bit of a joke for when anyone asks what we are targeting

alright and back to what i said earlier about streams flowing in giving variety to the pond. well its not terribly common and ive only witnessed it once. from time to time a fish that makes you wonder what the hell it is you just caught.. well in our local pond here in farmington ben caught a hybrid carp x goldfish. quite a blacksheep. this thing fought very oddly it came flying out of the water once hooked and zig zagged all over the place while fighting it. this is truly a memorable catch and a good reason to go out and start fishing your local storm ponds!